Image: Tencent
Tencent has called the recent designation “a mistake.”
The US Department of Defense has officially classified the multinational technology conglomerate Tencent as a Chinese military company. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Chinese company, which has made several large investments in game companies like Riot Games, Larian Studios and FromSoftware, views the designation as “a mistake.”
Tencent gets designated as a Chinese military company
This week, Bloomberg reported that both Tencent and a battery making company called CATL had been added to a list designating them as Chinese military companies. The list, created by the US Department of Defense, will not impose legal consequences on either company - but certainly isn’t a list any international company wants to be on, if it is looking to pursue business ventures in America.
Tencent is the world’s largest company in the games industry based on its equity investments, having invested heavily in multiple publishers and developers in the industry. Most recently, it was reported that the company was attempting to invest in or entirely buy out Ubisoft, for example.
Tencent told Bloomberg that its recent designation as a Chinese military company was “a mistake,” and will attempt to remove its name from the US Department of Defense’s list. Notably, the Chinese phone maker Xiaomi was also added to this list back in 2021, and managed to remove itself from it within a few months.
Speaking to Bloomberg, a Tencent spokesperson said “We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business. We will nonetheless work with the Department of Defense to address any misunderstanding.”
Whether the company succeeds in removing its name from the US Department of Defense’s list remains to be seen, however.
